I believe that the future strength of our economy and even the ability to maintain any level of growth will depend on successful adoption of Grid 2.0, the Cloud and Infrastructure 2.0. If we don’t solve the problem of Grid 1.0, much of the benefit associated with the cloud won’t be realized. If we don’t develop Infrastructure 2.0, we won’t be able to fully benefit from Grid 2.0. We have a growing population, which translates to a growing need for power and compute resource. Unfortunately, this situation of ever increasing demand, coupled with the limited ability to dynamically distribute or allocate energy resources means we eventually hit a wall. In 10, or maybe 20 years we will reach a point where we’ll have to make painful decisions about where power plants are built and we all know the answer “not in my back yard”.

The second stage, strengthening strategic, large-scale adaptation capacities, from 2013 to 2030, includes as priorities: attaining equilibrium between degradation/deforestation and restoration/reforestation; the adoption and implementation of sustainable agriculture and livestock production systems; the eradication of measures that encourage environmental degradation and cause GHG emissions; the implementation of relocation programs for human settlements and infrastructure in high risk areas, and the implementation of policies aimed at climate stability and sustainable development.

Lee masterminded the celebrated "Singapore Model," converting a country one-eighth the size of Delaware, with no natural resources and a fractured mix of ethnicities, into "Singapore, Inc." He attracted foreign investment by building communications and transportation infrastructure, made English the official language, created a superefficient government by paying top administrators salaries equal to those in private companies, and cracked down on corruption until it disappeared. The model—a unique mix of economic empowerment and tightly controlled personal liberties—has inspired imitators in China, Russia, and eastern Europe.

To lead a society, the MM says in his precise Victorian English, "one must understand human nature. I have always thought that humanity was animal-like. The Confucian theory was man could be improved, but I'm not sure he can be. He can be trained, he can be disciplined." In Singapore that has meant lots of rules—prohibiting littering, spitting on sidewalks, failing to flush public toilets—with fines and occasional outing in the newspaper for those who break them. It also meant educating his people—industrious by nature—and converting them from shopkeepers to high-tech workers in a few decades.

Lee masterminded the celebrated "Singapore Model," converting a country one-eighth the size of Delaware, with no natural resources and a fractured mix of ethnicities, into "Singapore, Inc." ... The model—a unique mix of economic empowerment and tightly controlled personal liberties—has inspired imitators in China, Russia, and eastern Europe.

I saw a Singaporean protest group in Washington DC over 20 years ago. They were a couple of hundred very quite, orderly people marching down a side street where no one could see them just a couple of blocks from downtown DC. They carried nice signs declaring Singapore to be ruled as a military dictatorship but aside from that you couldn't even tell that they were a protest group. They were also apparently given a route to follow and they stopped at every light waiting for it to change as a group. It was a very strange sight and I'm afraid that these people made no news at all in a town that obsessively reports protests.

"Even if you practice only for an hour a day with faith and inspiration, good qualities will steadily increase. Regular practice makes it easy to transform your mind. From seeing only relative truth, you will eventually reach a profound certainty in the meaning of absolute truth."Kyabje Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche.

"Even if you practice only for an hour a day with faith and inspiration, good qualities will steadily increase. Regular practice makes it easy to transform your mind. From seeing only relative truth, you will eventually reach a profound certainty in the meaning of absolute truth."Kyabje Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche.